RAY, WILLUGHBY, GOULD 201 



. . . Anyhow in your book you must not neglect 

 Willughby — ^the earliest ornithologist in England after 

 Turner. 



When the " Willughby Society " was established in 

 1879, Newton with Osbert Salvin and Dr. P. L. Sclater 

 formed the committee of selection. The object of the 

 society was the reprinting of rare ornithological works, 

 and in return for an annual subscription of one pound 

 the members received a copy of each of the reprints. 

 The first to be produced was Tunstall's " Ornithologia 

 Britannica " ; this was followed by Sir Andrew Smith's 

 paper in the South African Journal, Reports of his 

 Exploring Expedition, and other rare works. Un- 

 fortunately some trouble arose between Mr. Tegetmeier, 

 the Director of the Society, and a lady copyist, with the 

 result that the Society came to an untimely end. 



Of the ornithologists of the middle of the nineteenth 

 century probably the most widely known was Mr. J. 

 Gould, whose " Birds of Europe " and " Monograph of 

 the Humming-birds " and countless other volumes were 

 eagerly bought. The books were popular on account 

 of the coloured illustrations, which were better than any- 

 thing of the kind produced up to that time, but it does 

 not appear that Gould was himself a very serious 

 ornithologist. 



By the way, Gould always sends me his " Birds of 

 Great Britain " to look over for him, and the utter 

 ignorance they sometimes betray is amazing. He has 

 no personal knowledge of any English birds, except 

 those found between Eton and Maidenhead, and about 

 these species he fancies no one else knows anything. 

 It is most amusing to see how anxious he is to avoid 

 committing himself about Darwin's theory. Of course, 

 he does not care a rap whether it is true or not — but he 

 is dreadfully afraid that by prematurely espousing it 



